New Years on the Big Island

New Years here on the Big Island is unique. My neighbors set off a few fire crackers throughout the day
and as evening approaches they become more frequent. By midnight my village is full of smoke, noise.
and small red pieces of paper on the road.  Someone always comes to my driveway in the dark
and sets off a number of loud firecrackers leaving small red papers on the driveway.
The locals tell me it is to scare away the evil spirits .

They also claim my huge rosemary bush by my driveway is an excellent necromancer.
You can google that one .

So I guess I am all set to experience a really great New Year.
Hope your New Years is good also .

WING BEANS

The sun has returned to the Hamakua Coast and with it the
 young roosters have learned to crow . Time for BBQ chicken.
BBQ cures crowing .

The Wing Beans planted some time ago are finally producing.
I think they will make a lovely side dish to BBQ chicken in a few days.

WINTER STORMS

Lately we seem to have 4 days of stormy weather and 2 days of almost nice weather
and one day of a little of both.  Last week we had a 7  inch rain one day.
The lack of sun and the abundance of water has caused the aquaponic system to slow
down considerably. Even the weeds seem to be on vacation and the chickens haven't laid an egg for 5 weeks.

The one bright spot in our system  is  a line of bean vines with sweet pea like blossoms on
them. I had to go back and look at my records to remember what kind of bean I had planted.
Turns out  I have Wing Beans  blooming. They are an Asian version of the green bean. Look them  up
in Bakercreek Seed catalog and try them , you will enjoy them.

CELERY

Who would have thought I could raise celery in an aquaponics system ?

Yesterday I picked
a stalk of celery that was 2 1/2 feet tall and had so many leaves it resembled a bush
more than a celery. We will be using a LOT of celery this week!
 The leaves are good in
soups and casseroles  as well as just raw.

The days are short now in Hawaii…under 10 hours of daylight . So plant growth  is
slowing down. Lettuce isn't growing much but the celery and the leeks are looking good.
Tomorrow I will plant some snow peas and see how they do.

Amazing things

Amazing things grow in my water garden called aquaponics.
A Neem tree appeared , without my help , recently.

I have two Neem trees in the backyard . One is doing ok but the other is more of a bush.
I noticed the ok one was blooming this year but I did not see any seed form.
Recently, however, I pulled an 8 inch tall Neem tree seedling out of the aquaponic system,
The  roots were amazingly about 18 inches long.

How did it get there ? Had to have been a bird bringing the seed from my ok tree to the planting medium
bin or to the net pot in the system.

An YES I am sure it was a Neem tree.
I sent it off to live in a neighbors yard. I will watch and see if it lives.

Seed time

Now is the time to order your aquaponic seeds. The new seed catalogs for next year are coming out
and the seed supply is probably as good as it's going to get .

Here on the Big Island of Hawaii we have seeds sold in our grocery stores, hardware stores, Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowes. The germination rate on these seeds is usually less than 50 % but if you buy seeds now, dated for 2012 ,  you should get a better germination rate.  I like to keep them in the refrigerator in a ziplock plastic bag until I use them.

For the very best germination and generous seed packets I like to order
from BakerCreek Heirloom seeds. They have a seed catalogue that is a real joy to read .

The Engine that Runs the System

We often think an aquaponic system is pretty much like a hydroponic system 

but that is not the case. Fish are the engine that run an aquaponic system.

Fish give off the excretions that, when they break down, feed the plants.

The plant roots then clean the water before it is returned to the fish.

The fish also feed us. We harvest at least 5 pounds of fish each month.

Our white and golden Tilapia are fed a dry seafood based food

as well as a few lettuce leaves. They have a very light flavor that is

best when sauteed in olive oil and lemon.